Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival

Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival (MCMAF or “Mission Creek”) is a week-long volunteer-driven music festival in the San Francisco, California. It features local, experimental, and contemporary artists who have made an impact on the local community scene.

The festival prides itself on showcasing fledging musicians and artists who go on to headline their own shows.

The festival takes a hard stance against corporate sponsorship. Andre Perry, one of the festival's producers sums up their position saying, "Basically, we're not interested in companies without any responsibility or connection to the local community." The festival takes its name from the Mission Creek watershed that once flourished in the neighborhood.

History

The project began in 1996, when San Francisco musician Jeff Ray decided to showcase eight Bay Area independent musicians in a one-day event at El Rio bar in the Mission District, and called it a festival.

Producer Neil Martinson was the first person in San Francisco to book harpist Joanna Newsom, with another MCMAF producer, Jon Fellman doing her sound. Former Mission Creek acts include Devendra Banhart, Deerhoof, Erase Errata, The Oh Sees, Kelly Stoltz, Rogue Wave, and Vetiver, all of whom developed national followings. The producers also have an eye for talented visual artists. Among the local artists who have design posters for the festival are Jo Jackson, and Andrew Schultz, key artists in the "Mission School", highly centered on "Adobe Books".

In 2009 and 2010, the festival has hosted free one-day outdoor concerts attended by 1,200 people in John McLaren Park, the second largest park in San Francisco.